Until We Meet Again
by ilvie-chan
Summary: he he actually non-yaoi, gonna be a friendship story between Heero and Duo. It's after the war and Duo's feeling depressed. Then he gets a phone call...at midnight?
1. Default Chapter Title

> > > > > **Until We Meet Again**
>> 
>> Part 1 
>> 
>> It was midnight and once again Duo found himself unable to sleep. ~It's always the   
same..Whenever I close my eyes all I can hear is the screaming and crying.~ 
>> 
>> It was two years after the Mariemai incident and the four gundam pilots had each gone   
their seperate way to try and put the war behind them. In Duo's case it wasn't working.   
He had moved in with Hilde, but things just hadn't worked out. They had parted as they   
had begun, friends. She was the only one from that time in his life that he still kept in   
touch with. When he had had nightmares, she had understood, and even stayed awake to   
soothe away his fears. But Hilde was gone, and Duo was all alone. 
>> 
>> The clock down the hall was chiming the midnight hour. Duo rubbed his eyes wearily and   
wondered for mayhaps the thousandth time, if he should give sleeping pills one more try.   
In the beginning, they had worked, but their effects wore off after heaby usage and the   
nightmares came back. His cat, Shinigami, leaped up to perch on the windowsill beside   
him. His body language all offended dignity at Duo usurping 'his' place. Duo smiled and   
ran an affectionate hand down the feline's fur. "At least you're still here eh?" 
>> 
>> Duo didn't believe in a lot. As a child, he had had most of his illusions stripped from him   
during the destruction of Maxwell Churchs. Well those that had been left after years of   
living on the streets. The few he harbored after the war and not been able to survive the   
harsh reality of the thing called peace. Shinigami began his trademarked rumbling purr.   
Duo swore no other cat in the world could rival him at it. He made the foundations shake.   
He'd found the cat halfway dead, in the middle of a rainstorm. He had been hurrying   
home from school and seen a group of young boys, ten or so, kicking at it. He'd ran them   
off and the cat had officially adopted him. 
>> 
>> The shrill sound of a telephone interrupted his dark thoughts. ~Who would be calling at   
this hour?~ he wondered in startlement. He reached over to pick up the extension, his   
voice coming out hoarse and dry, "Hello?" The voice on the other side started in, brisk   
and efficient. "Hello Mr. Marxwell? I'm Nurse Conrad. I'm calling to inform you of a   
Mr. Yuy's injury. You were listed as the person to notify in case of emergency." The   
words ran together in Duo's head. ~Nurse....Mr. Yuy...Emergency...~ "Heero's been   
hurt?" he asked, becoming fully alert. The nurse took a deep breath, "We're not allowed   
to talk about these things on the phone, so could you come down to the hospital? It's the   
Rio Hospital on Rodeo Drive." Duo wrote that down and assured the nurse he would be   
there quickly. "Well Shinigami looks like I'm still needed for something." Shinigami   
looked up at him smugly. Duo half-smiled, and shrugged into his jacket. Then he all but   
ran out the door.

	2. Default Chapter Title

> > > > > **Until We Meet Again**

> > Part 2

> > When he arrived at the hospital the scene was chaos. He grabbed an orderly who was   
rushing by and asked what was happening. The orderly told him a bus had exploded and   
they were just now getting the aftereffects. He looked grim and in a hurry. Duo let him go   
without comment. He headed towards the main desk and asked for nurse Conrad.   
Almost by magic she appeared before him. "Yes?" He smiled at her, back in his usual   
charming manner, slipping easily back into his masks. "I'm Duo Maxwell. You called me   
about Heero Yuy." She smiled in recognition, "Ahh, right this way. We just received a   
call from Mr. Winner telling us money was no object, but he wouldn't be able to make it   
here for some time." Duo looked startled. ~Quatre?~ "How did Mr. Winner know   
Heero was here?" She laughed, "Oh those with money have their ways I suppose. But at   
least your friend will be getting the best of care." Duo nodded, having a hard time keeping   
up with her brisk steps. ~I've been letting myself get out of shape~ he thought ruefully. 
>> 
>> She stopped in front of room 203 and handed him a key. "Normally I'd stay with you and   
lecture you on proper visitor ettiquete. But I don't think you'll need that. Besides which   
we're under a state of emergency still." She winked at him and headed back. He sagged   
in relief, at least he wouldn't have to face his friend with an audience. Hesitantly he   
opened the door and looked into the dimly lit room. He could hear the hiss of hospital   
machines. He remembered how much they'd always annoyed Heero, which was one of   
the reasons he'd become so self-sufficient, so as to spend less time in hospitals. 
>> 
>> "Heero?" he called softly. He heard a slight grunt in reply. He flipped the switch to the   
lights and walked all the way in. Heero sat bolt upright in bed and looked like he'd seen a   
ghost. "d-Duo?" Duo smiled at him and flicked his braid lazily behind him. "I heard you   
weren't in the best of shape so thought I'd stop by." What might have, on another person,   
possibly been called a smile, spread across Heero's face. "You don't look so good   
either." Duo glanced up at him in surprise. "Hey, you're the one in the hospital bed." 
>> 
>> Heero looked at his friend appraisingly. In the two years since he'd seen him last, Duo's   
braid had grown longer. His friend hadn't grown with it though. He'd gained perhaps an   
inch in height, but was still muscular and athletic. Although he definately wasn't at his   
peak. It was until you saw his eyes that you knew he was anything other than the normal   
young man he seemed. His eyes were old and full of regret and pain. They were eyes that   
had seen the ages and survived, but not without cost. His face was thin and showed signs   
of strain. He had dark circles under his eyes, evidence of lack of sleep which roused   
Heero to his situation. "It must be midnight! What were you doing up so late?" 
>> 
>> "Who are you, my mother?" Duo shot back. He glanced over Heero, or at what parts   
weren't covered by the sheet. He was gaunt and looked like he had just recently   
recovered from an illness of some kind. His face was still strong and his body language   
spoke of one who had been trampled, but had gotten up again. Heero had not let life get   
him down the way Duo had. He felt a brief moment of shame as he walked up to the bed   
his friend was in. Heero had grown a lot taller in a couple of years. His hair still looked   
like he had just woken up, although in this case he had an excuse. Duo grinned cockily   
and sat down on the edge of the bed. 
>> 
>> "No." Heero watched his friend warily. "I'm not." Duo grinned, "Good, cause if you   
were, you'da been lying to me all these years, I hate liars." Heero leaned back against the   
pillow.

	3. Default Chapter Title

> > > > > **Until We Meet Again**

> > Part 3

> > "So what happened to you?" Duo asked curiously. Heero sighed and ran a hand through   
his hair. "I was just in a hospital a few months ago. Some sort of disease, whose name I   
can't even pronounce. As you can probably tell." He made a sweeping gesture down his   
body. Duo nodded. "I was heading out to my car when I got hit head-on by a car. No   
one got the license plate. And they just left me there. Thankfully I was in front of the   
hospital so I was taken back in." Duo grimaced, "Talk about bad luck." Heero nodded.   
"I-I'm glad you could come.' Duo looked at him in surprise, "You think I wouldn't?"   
Heero shrugged. "We all vanished after the war, but the rest of us eventually got back in   
touch. We were never able to find you and didn't want to intrude if you obviously didn't   
want to found." Duo froze, he had never thought the others would want to get in touch   
with them. He'd assumed they would not want any reminders of what they had been   
during the war, so he had faded out of existence. 
>> 
>> Duo shrugged nonchalantly. "Tell you what, to make up for my horrible negligence, I'll   
nurse you back to health in my home." Heero had to laugh, "I wouldn't want to force you   
into it." Duo shook his head, "I'd love to do it. It'll give us time to catch up and I can   
introduce you to Shinigami." "Shinigami?" Heero asked questioningly, it had been Duo's   
name at one point. Duo nodded, "He's my cat. Rough, tough, and ready to rumble that's   
him." Heero tried to imagine Duo with a cat. It was a hard image to conceive, he could   
imagine the two locked in a battle of wills. 
>> 
>> There was a beep from the unit next to them and an image of Quatre appeared.   
"Heero..."he started, then stopped stunned. "Duo!" he exclaimed. Duo looked slightly   
sheepish and waved. Heero cleared his throat. Quatre looked back up and seemed to   
gather his thoughts. "I was startled to hear about you injury. Are you doing okay? If   
something's wrong, Trowa and I can board the next plane..." Heero held up a hand to   
stop him. "Everything's okay and you two are needed there, what with Catherine going   
into labor soon and all. You wouldn't want to miss out on your godchildren, would you?"   
Quatre grinned. Duo blinked, not sure he'd heard that right. "Catherine's pregnant?"   
Quatre laughed and Trowa walked up behind him. His visible eye widened slightly at the   
sight of Duo but he made no comment. ~No surprise there.~ Duo thought. "Catherine   
and Rashid got married a year ago. Three months into it and she was pregnant." Trowa   
coughed and Quatre blushed. "Sorry, I'm just really happy for them." Duo grinned, you   
could always tell when Quatre was happy, it affected everyone, even Trowa. "So what's   
happened to Wufei?" he asked, trying to assimilate this new information. This time,   
Trowa answered. "He and Sally are currently building a house for themselves down in   
Honan." Duo collapsed. Quatre looked concerned from his side of the screen. "Is he   
okay?" Heero nodded, "It's probably just shock. I'd better let you go before the nurses   
come in screeching at me again. Good night." The other two said there farewells and   
ended the transmission. Heero looked down at the figure on the floor and shook his head   
in exasperation. ~Duo what am I going to do with you?~   
  



End file.
